Vettori aiming for last laugh

Daniel Vettori's side have been looking over their shoulder throughout the tour

Captain Daniel Vettori has revealed the determination in the New Zealand squad to make amends for a disappointing tour of England by clinching the NatWest Series at Lord’s.

The Kiwis go into the final match of the series having bounced back from losing the Test series and the Twenty20 clash to hold a 2-1 advantage after the narrow triumph at the Brit Oval.

Vettori said: “The chance of winning the series 3-1 is what we’ve pushed really hard for after losing the first game up at Durham.

“It was a really tough start to the tour but, if we finish strongly, we’ll be remembered for bouncing back as opposed to some of our more disappointing performances.”

Vettori admitted: “When things aren’t going well, it is a balancing act of whether you are hard on them, because some of our performances have been really disappointing, but also trying to keep the morale up.

“We have talked long and hard, been tough on the guys and also positive about where we can go and what we can be as a team.

“When you perform like we have in the last two or three games, then guys start believing we are a good side.

“There has been a lot of talking. We’ve put it back on to individuals to lift their performances. We’ve talked about us as a team collectively and there has been a good response.

“Now we hope we can finish the job in terms of this series.”

Vettori also believes New Zealand have shown they can still be match winners without a sizeable contribution from big-hitting opener Brendon McCullum.

He was out for a duck at the Brit Oval but other players stepped up to the mark and clinched a dramatic last ball, one-wicket win.

Vettori said: “I know there’s a belief that, as soon as Brendon gets out, it makes it tough for us.

“But I think we showed at the Oval that we do have quality players all throughout our batting order and that we don’t rely on Brendon or one or two individuals.”

Vettori is confident the two sides will have forgotten any ill-feeling over the Sidebottom-Elliott incident when the sides meet at Lord’s.

He said: “We’ll go to Lord’s confident and both teams will be in the right frame of mind. We’ll be able to move into the next game in the right spirit.”